It hardly seems possible that it is one year ago that Prince Gideon Layukona Ka Mnyayiza Na Ndabuko Ka Mpande slipped the coil of this temporal life to be reunited with our ancestors. 

Nor could I have ever dreamt that I would come to speak at a function at which we are honouring the memory of our beloved Prince of Kwaminya on the every same day that we have just been to the funeral of his beloved nephew, my late cousin, Prince Nhlanhla Elijah ka Nojombo ka Dinuzulu. 

This sad coincidence, bathed in pathos as it is, has greatly battered my psyche, not just because these two royal scions were my relatives, but for the long relationship and common endeavours we shared. We had the same aspirations, whether it was about the Zulu Royal House, the Zulu Nation or the South African nation, of which we, the Zulu people, are part.   

I remember that it was the Prince of Kwaminya who introduced me to my first cousin Prince Nhlanhla when he was a very young man who worked at SAPPI at Mandeni. From that time onwards, the bonds of blood and of our common convictions grew stronger and stronger over the years.  Both these remarkable Princes died, still battling with me, trying to achieve the objectives we had in common pertaining to our people and our country. 

There are lessons I believe that we can learn from the kind of relationship which bound us together to the end of their lives. I do not have many relationships that are similar to those which I had with these two descendents of the Zulu Kings.  I have had many so-called "friends" and "followers" in life who have disappeared like the morning mist when they felt that it suited their purposes. I have been betrayed over and over again by friends and relatives. Some so-called friends have colluded with my relatives to do me and my cause as much harm as possible.   

This brings me directly to the issue of what lessons we can learn from the lives of these two Princes. The Prince of Kwaminya will remain a role model for the living and future generations.  He was a model of integrity.  He was trustworthy.  He was not a weathercock that swayed to and fro according to the winds of fortune and misfortune.  The same can be said about Prince Nhlanhla who was buried today in Nongoma.

Poignantly, it is almost as if his death was meant to underline the qualities which he and our uncle, Prince Gideon had in common.   

No one who knew Prince Gideon can ever forget how humble he was.  He rubbed shoulders with kings as well as common people.  He was at ease with everyone who came into contact with him. The same was said about Prince Nhlanhla by speakers from all political parties in parliament this week. 

The Prince of Kwaminya was a family man.  His life as a family man was exemplary to all. He was in love with his wife, Princess Winifred, known to the Prince as his beloved "Dolly", to the end of his days. They both raised their children as children of the Royal House are raised, being taught to respect people regardless of circumstances. What we see today are the fruits of that upbringing that they gave to their children.  

We are gathered here to honour the Prince's memory because their children have brought us together to gather in this way for that purpose.  That is a tribute to both the Prince and the Princess and also to their children. That bond which existed between them and their children is the envy of many people today.   

We are all aware that there is no such peace in many families today. The whole country's moral regeneration seems to be beyond redemption because the rot begins in families, as the family is the unit of any society.

This problem is becoming a world problem. When I was in London in March, I was quite surprised that there was a proposal that the Ministry of Education should include in the curriculum teaching children there manners and respect.   

We tried here with the late Prince and other colleagues of mine, as the government of KwaZulu, to have Citizenship taught as a subject for all our schools where all our children were taught Ubuntu-Botho.  When the idea emerged, we were attacked, and this was described as my effort to inculcate Inkatha into the heads of children. 

I wish to congratulate my two cousins, Princess Gcwalisile and Prince Thibelamambuka, for being so exemplary in demonstrating to this generation how to respect and show gratitude to one's parents.  They show the same respect and love even when it comes to the Princess, their beloved mother.   

It must not be sufficient that we all come together here to feast and enjoy ourselves. We should come away with some lessons that will make us and our families better units of our society than we were before today's function. 

We thank the Princess for having been such a good parent to their children, which she achieved together with the late Prince.  We thank her and her children for today's function and the hospitality that has been extended to all of us.  May this be a lesson to many young people on how to honour and love one's parents both in their lifetime and even after death. It is not as if this is the first time that the Prince's children are demonstrating this wonderful love for their father.

Princess Gcwalisile wrote a book on her father during his lifetime.  To both my cousins let me just say, everything we can say is summed up in these words:  In Exodus chapter 20 verse 12 we read - 

"Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." 

We know that the Lord will bless you for what you have done today in honour of your beloved father. I thank you for having asked me to be part of it. It is, indeed, a privilege to do so.  

When one looks back upon this remarkable life lived to the full, I cannot think of anyone who was more committed than Prince Gideon to the institution of the monarchy and its integrity than he was. He was a patriot to the tips of his fingers. It is upon this facet of this man of many parts that I would like to linger upon today. 

To many in the Zulu nation, the Prince symbolised its grand history of which he kept a meticulous record as an accomplished historian. He hailed from an illustrious scion of the Zulu royal family. He was a traditionalist in the truest sense of the word. The Prince's rousing oratory during annual Shaka Day celebrations in KwaDukuza as well as at other traditional functions will never be forgotten by those who heard them. His powerful speeches invoked warrior pride among the present Zulus in a spectacular display of tradition and living history. 

In dispensing my duties and championing the Zulu nation as the traditional prime minister of the Zulu nation and head of the King's regiments, I could not have asked for a truer friend and colleague than Prince Gideon. The Prince performed unstinting work upon my behalf because of the weight of my political duties as, first, Chief Minister of KwaZulu and, later, as Minister of Home Affairs. He was simply marvellous. He was generous with both his time and talents. He always intuitively knew the right thing to do. 

As time lapses, I fear that his work in promoting the cultural inheritance of the Zulu nation is not being taken forward. The Prince played an essential role in the work of the Council of Amafa a KwaZulu-Natali in promoting and protecting the eMakhosini valley. He was, in fact, the lynchpin of this project.  

To recap briefly, the objectives of the Council are to conserve the ancestral burial places, the historical battlefields and other sites of archaeological, historical and cultural significance; reconstruct the King's capitals as monuments to the old Zulu order and provide associated cultural centres for the sustainment of amasiko; establish an ecologically sustainable natural environment which will promote the historical integrity of the cultural sites; link the historical sites and placing them in the context of a thematic cultural/historical tourist route, and maintain the eMakhosini Valley as a regional and national heritage area.  

I fervently hope that the Prince's efforts were not in vain and that fresh impetus will be given to the work of Amafa. If Amafa's work is not given the attention it merits, the precious and rich cultural legacy of our nation will be in jeopardy.  

That is why I find it despicable that there are people who in denigrating Amafa say that Amafa is run by too many whites. This is an insult to the memory of Prince Gideon who was a pillar of strength in Amafa for decades. He stepped down only when he became Minister after 1994. What is distressing is that Amafa was founded by me and the KwaZulu government.  

We were a black government which was not racist. After 1994, members of the board of Amafa continued to be appointed by the KwaZulu-Natal government which was still a black government and one thing that many people failed to understand is that we struggled and put our lives on the line for a non-racial South Africa.  

We cannot now start "milking" racism merely because we want to hold certain positions in bodies such as Amafa. We did not pay members of the board except for their travelling expenses and, for many of them, this has been a work of love, which they have performed because of the love and admiration they have for the Zulu people and their history.   

The Prince was not only seized with honouring the Zulu nation's past, he also embodied the noble cause of the restoration of the Zulu nation.

The Prince refused to accept that Zulus were not a fully fledged people in the family of nations, like, for example, the Catalonians of Spain or the Scottish of Great Britain. 

Recognising that the Zulu Kingdom is a constituent nation of the Republic of South Africa, the Prince held fast to the grand vision of an autonomous Kingdom which governs its own affairs in matters that pertained to the people of this province. He was both an ardent Zulu nationalist and an enthusiastic South African. He acted upon the insight that the promotion of the former would make the latter even stronger. 

During the negotiation process, we were of one mind in advocating a federal state which would have provided for the Kingdom's restoration within a united South Africa. The Prince understood that the restoration of the Zulu Kingdom, the recognition of the institution of traditional leadership and the welfare of South Africa were one and the same: a trinity, if you will, of three unbreakable elements.  

As the last journey of this faithful Prince took him beyond the sunset, and as heaven's morning broke, I know he took his leave pained that a space had not been found for our Zulu Kingdom in the new South Africa.He was also sad that the many promises made to traditional leaders were dishonoured. The best way we can honour his life is by completing his unfinished work. We must and will prevail. 

As we pay tribute to the memory of the Prince today, let us never forget that there will always be place called the Zulu Nation. 

I thank you.